Motley Crue notoriously sang “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room” during the height of the 1980s hair rock and roll. Who would have thought that they could do a remake today, though they’d have to change the words?
Today would most likely be “Vapin’ in the Boys’ Room” or maybe we should change that to gender-neutral bathroom, in part because girls seem just as likely to partake in this newest nasty habit. In fact, based on a study at Statista.com, 60% of adult women said they had tried vaping, while “only” 45% of men admitted to that.
E-cigarette use, also known as JUULing, is on a precipitous rise. And we see it in schools at an increasingly higher rate with each passing year. And it gets worse when we look at students in middle school and high school. The totals might not be as much as adults, but there are some scary numbers for student use.
The FDA released a study that showed in middle school the percentage of E-cigarette users increased from 3.3% in 2017 to 4.9% in 2018. That’s a 48% jump in one year! High school use was even more disturbing, rising from 11.7% in 2017 to 20.8% in 2018, a 78% increase! Just think, that means that about 1 out of 5 high schoolers is vaping. In fact, as part of the FDA study, they found that over 3.6 million kids used e-cigs, which pushed them to the top spot of nicotine products used by teenagers.
Is vaping a problem? You bet it is. Ask any high school administrator in the country, and you’ll likely get a giant sigh in response to how much time is devoted to dealing with kids caught vaping in school. For us at NRHEG, it’s an automatic suspension, and there are also severe consequences for extracurriculars, since that’s viewed in the same light as cigarettes, chew, or alcohol.
Why is this problem becoming so prevalent? Part of the answer to that is the not-so-subtle attempts by the tobacco companies to make these products appealing to young people. JUULs have different flavors instead of the nastiness that cigarettes give in taste. They are also housed in casings that look like common devices, such as USB drives. This makes it easier to get away with the illegal activity.
Let’s be honest. For many of us, as teenagers, the thrill of breaking the law and getting away with it was quite a rush. Any of us who drank before reaching the legal age know that feeling. I’m sure smoking or vaping is the same. The difference now is that vaping doesn’t leave behind that distinctive smell that cigarettes do, so it’s much easier to vape and run without consequences. I’ve had the vape smell described to me as smelling like Fruity Pebbles. Well, what if someone enjoys that cereal and was eating some? Or their lip balm or perfume has a smell of fruitiness? See the problem in catching offenders?
Education is key in this epidemic. And yes, it’s growing to be an epidemic. We’re still not entirely sure of all the long-term effects of vaping, but initial studies are showing that it might be even worse than smoking cigarettes. The vapes just haven’t been around long enough to get enough data. By the time all that is gathered, it’ll be too late for many, many people.
The nicotine in these JUULs is just as addictive as in any other tobacco product. The misconception that many young people have is that the vape juice doesn’t have anything bad in it. However, we are even starting to hear of people dying from vape juice that is contaminated somehow.
Remember the DARE program, where our 5th-graders learned about the dangers of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol? It doesn’t exist anymore, likely the result of budget cuts or cutting off of federal funding. Would that help? Do we have anything to take its place? It’s not enough to talk about the dangers of tobacco when students first take a health class in 7th grade. Kids younger than that are vaping.
Home education is important too. If parents simply talk about why using tobacco products is not a good choice, there’s a much lower chance that kids will do that. At the very least, the kids are more likely to talk to their parents and ask questions because that doorway has been propped open. And even if a child falls to temptation and tries something out, there’s a better chance they’ll tell their parents, who can then help the child make a better choice the next time.
And if you’re an adult who vapes? You’re old enough to make your own choices, but I urge you to consider the potential consequences. Plus, if you have children who see you vape or smoke, the chances of them also doing that increase exponentially. We always want the best for our children, and it starts with setting a good example.
I’m not even sure how folks afford all the tobacco products out there. Cigarettes and vape juice and chew are prohibitively expensive. There are much better things on which to spend money. Certainly, there are addictions that are difficult to overcome, but that’s all the more reason to steer our kids away from vaping in the bathroom.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is discommoded, which means to inconvenience, as in, “The principal was discommoded when he routinely had to check the bathrooms for vapers.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!